


What are friends for?

by ximeria



Series: Life of an Engineer [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Established Relationship, Humor, Kidnapping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 04:03:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/882724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ximeria/pseuds/ximeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik's life would be a lot easier if not for his boss complicating it.</p>
<p>Of course his life would also be a lot more boring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The only reason the story is set as 'mature' is due to a mild case of violence, kidnapping - not because the highest level of sex in there is some groping and kissing.
> 
> Thank you to Nora Charles for her beta work - Anything you don't like in here, blame me - I can be a bit of a bitch to beta for as in I'll take the advice I want and ignore the rest *grins* (it's still muchly appreciated, trust me - it still challenges me to think, you know, which is what I love about the beta-process).
> 
> Also, it's split into two for convenience (mine) and because the ending is still giving me grief - it'll get done! Hopefully before I set off on mini road trip from Scotland, via England and Wales and back up - which is tomorrow *grins*

Erik rolled over and grabbed for his cellphone, as it tried to vibrate off his bedside table. He held his breath for a moment, feeling Charles mumble something against his shoulder, barely audible. For a moment Erik thought he'd wake up, but he merely huffed out a breath of air for a moment, then went back to his light snoring.

Erik checked the caller ID and frowned as he put the phone to his ear and asked quietly: "Miss Potts, is everything all right?" He'd been ready to rip whoever was calling to pieces, but it was unlike his boss' PA to call at 3AM without a damned good reason.

_"I'm [...] sorry [...] bother you [...] this time [...] night."_

Erik frowned at the bad reception. Normally Tony's customized phones boosted reception, but apparently not for every occasion. Erik waited for her to continue. He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on staying awake. The night before he'd gone to sleep late, thanks to a lovely, playful Charles.

_"I was wondering if [...] might [...] spoken with Tony [...],"_ she asked with a sigh. The connection buzzed and hissed for a moment before becoming clearer.

"Boss gone AWOL?" Erik asked, rubbing Charles' back as the other man muttered in his sleep.

_"It's not like it's the first time he's disappeared,"_ Miss Potts admitted. _"But he normally leaves something either for me, Happy or JARVIS." She went quiet for a moment. "It's [...] nothing, and I shouldn't [...] waking you [...]..."_ The connection crackled again.

"If I hear from him, I'll tell him he's in trouble and send him your way for a spanking," Erik promised.

She tried to suppress a very unladylike snort, but didn't quite manage. _"Somehow I [...] the feeling he'd enjoy that [...] too much,"_ she replied with a small laugh.

"Miss Potts," Erik said, suppressing a yawn, "I know what Tony's like, both as a boss and a friend. If there are any problems you need my help with..."

_"I know, and I appreciate, Mr. Lehnsherr,"_ she replied, sounding a lot more steady. _"And I will, call you again, that is, if he doesn't [...] up. I know that sometimes he shares [...] with you that he doesn't [...] JARVIS or me."_

"Feel free," Erik agreed, curling up around Charles on the bed. Those things that Tony sometimes shared were the kind of things Erik mostly preferred the bastard keep to himself. "And let me know when Tony turns up - or I'll be worried as well."

She huffed softly. _"I'm sure it's noth[...]. Good night, [...] Lehns[...]."_

"Goodnight, Miss Potts," Erik replied, ending the call. He shot a text message through to Tony's phone, telling him to check in with Miss Potts. Then he dropped the phone back onto the bedside table.

"Mfffph?" Charles mumbled against Erik's chest.

"No, go back to sleep," Erik muttered, already halfway there himself, Charles' inquiring presence in the back of his head, warm and fuzzy with sleep.

"M'kay," was the only reply before Charles was gone again.

* * *

Of course Erik had thought that between his talk with Miss Potts and the morning, Tony would have either resurfaced or at least made sure she knew where he was.

And Erik could have his morning not-getting-out-of-bed-even-if-the-world-is-ending because it was Saturday; no work looming for two days. Even with Charles still having the school to take care of and the students, of course, Erik was looking forward to spending the weekend with his boyfriend. Possibly even getting those shelves put up in the bedroom he'd been putting off because of work.

If he felt like it.

Erik, of course, should have known better and not expected things to go anywhere near the way he'd planned. Saturday morning came around to kick Erik's high expectations off the pedestal he'd so foolishly placed them on.

He was woken most rudely by the piercing howl of Sean's sonic voice, the windows shaking, but thankfully not breaking.

The sudden noise had Erik on his feet, tangled in the sheets, still more asleep than awake, as he tried to move forward. This of course resulted in him on the floor, face first, a moment later. The only reason he wasn't storming out of the room, finding the brat to make him pay was the surge of _annoyanceworrywhatthehell_ he was receiving from Charles. Something was most definitely amiss.

Pulling on a pair of boxer shorts, to avoid giving any students an eyeful, Erik pushed out from their room and walked quickly along the strangely deserted hallway. It was a bit odd considering the school currently numbered 20 or so students, depending on how many were visiting family during the weekend. He was used to seeing students out and about at all hours of the day. Occasionally when he couldn't sleep and needed fresh air he'd run into one or two of them, he'd even spent half a night talking to a twelve year old girl whose gift had been to turn her body into a substance not unlike mercury. Erik had been intrigued as she looked metallic but he'd been incapable of feeling anything metal about her. He'd later learned from a surprised Charles, that she tended to be shy but had apparently benefited from Erik's no nonsense attitude, as he'd put it.

Who'd have thunk? Erik; a good influence and capable of talking to children?

Still, he didn't see a soul as he headed toward where he could hear raised voices coming from the entrance hall.

Erik blinked sleep from his eyes as he walked down the stairs, scratching at his chest absentmindedly. He needed coffee and to figure out why the hell Sean had felt suicidal enough to cause so much noise. Charles had let him sleep and for this he was grateful, but in the din and the now raised voices, who the hell could _stay_ asleep?

The 'missing' students were flocked by the entrance, though most of them seemed to be inching towards the TV room a little further back, casting wary glances towards the outside. Erik caught Alex's wave as he was herding the kids in there, obviously keeping them in check. The meaningful look Alex shot in the same direction was enough for Erik to slow down and force himself awake enough to take everything in.

The open door was at first obscuring his view, but as he walked across the hall from the bottom of the stairs to the entrance, he picked up on more than a few things.

Charles' emotions were always lapping gently against Erik's mind - whether they were close or not. However, what was normally small waves of everything from contentedness to amusement and stress was now like a roaring sea of annoyance and bordering on actual anger.

Erik wasn't sure he'd ever experienced Charles really angry. Annoyed, exasperated, yeah, but like this? Never.

For a moment he took in the scene and wondered if he had actually really woken up or if he was still deeply asleep, dreaming some weird ass dream. The front steps of the house and the gravel driveway were practically crawling with suits and uniforms and Erik sighed when he recognized the design as well as the insignia.

"What the hell is going on here?" Erik asked, looking from one to the other, glaring at the agent who was obviously in charge of the small scale invasion. A shortish man in his mid-thirties, dirty blond hair and regulation nondescript black suit and tie. And a slightly nervous tick at the right eye.

"Mr. Lehnsherr," the agent began, for a moment taking his eyes off Charles.

"Can't a guy sleep in on a day off?" Erik plowed on. _'What the hell is going on, Charles?'_ he asked, realizing that Charles was still wearing his running gear and had obviously been surprised by their visitors as well.

_'That's what I'd like to know. I wasn't paying attention or looking for any trouble, and all of the sudden they were all over the place, giving the students a right fright. Startled Sean so he let loose a sonic scream. Which in turn only brought on more agents.'_

_'Do you want me to handle this?'_ Erik asked. _'Not that I don't trust you to take care of yourself, but the kids inside looked frightened and they react better to your nurturing treatment than my ''predatory baring of teeth', as you put it.'_

Charles' mirth washed over him for a moment.

"Agent Bars," Charles said, giving the agent his full attention again. "I'm upset enough to turn you over to Erik here who is in no form or shape a nice man when he's awakened so rudely. I'm going to attend to my students whom you have very much upset with your ridiculous posturing and show of arms. And I should thank you kindly to state your business to Mr. Lehnsherr and then get off the school property."

Charles turned on his heel, only slowing his flounce inside the house when he caught on that Erik was standing behind him in nothing but a pair of boxers.

The flare of lust only made Erik's grin widen. _'Could've been worse, I could've foregone the boxers.'_

_'That might have worked as a scare tactic, love,'_ Charles replied, heading for the interior of the mansion, to take care of his shocked students.

"Now, Agent Bors," Erik began.

"Bars," the agent corrected, visibly shrinking when Erik turned his less than impressed glare on him. He'd had enough project meetings with difficult clients to have near perfected it.

"Would you care to explain why you felt it necessary to invade a fucking school on a Saturday morning?" Erik leaned against the door, giving off his most bored attitude. "In case it's slipped your attention, it's the 21 century, there are plenty of ways to communicate without showing up in person."

"We are looking for Tony Stark," Agent Bars said, looking distinctly ill at ease.

Erik wanted to dig into that, ask _why_ , but he knew from experience that he probably wouldn't get any real information out of a field agent. Who was, fair enough, doing his job, not that Erik gave a shit. Not when the idiot had decided to ruin his morning and disrupt school life as well, which in turn upset Charles. And if there was anything wrong with Tony, Erik wasn't going to waste time with an agent who likely wouldn't share information with him.

"Come back when you've learned some manners," Erik said, voice low. "Do you have any idea how stupid it is to frighten the students of a school where all the students are mutants, capable of anything from blowing bubbles of light to breathing fire and firing plasma blasts? Learn some fucking strategic sense of reality and apply it."

With this, Erik pushed away from the casual stance against the doorpost and headed for the interior of the house. He slammed the door in the agent's face without touching it physically. He knew perfectly well that it only bought him a little time to think so he reached upward feeling for the metal chassis of his phone, catching it as it floated down from upstairs.

He hadn't taken two steps before it rang.

Checking the ID, he bared his teeth in a mirthless grin. "Now, why don't you tell me why you sent an idiot here who is very obviously out of his depth?" he asked, keeping his voice even. While he might not like dealing with SHIELD when he was at work, this one, at least, he could tolerate.

_"Because I was delayed in transit and couldn't make the house call myself,"_ came the calm reply.

"Agent Coulson, would you like to let me in on the secret of why we're being invaded by SHIELD?" Erik asked. "Charles is not a happy camper - the kids are scared - not to mention, I wasn't allowed to sleep in on my first day off in two weeks." There was a clearing of throat at the other end and Erik allowed himself a small smile. "I do expect you to call off your minions, Mr. Coulson."

_"Already done, Mr. Lehnsherr,"_ Coulson replied. _"And as to why they are a little high strung, it seems Mr. Stark has disappeared."_

Erik rubbed his eyes and made his way towards the kitchen, following his nose as he could smell the coffee. He caught Charles' gaze as he walked past the TV room. _'I've got Coulson on the phone, he'll sort it out.'_

There was a brush of gratitude in the touch of Charles' mind as the man turned his attention back to speaking quietly with the students. It never failed to surprise Erik how much the children leaned on Charles. Through his own years as a student, first in Germany and then later in the US, he'd never had any sort of connection with faculty the way the students had with Charles.

"Wouldn't it make more sense asking Miss Potts?" Erik asked, stepping into the kitchen, finding Raven there.

She gave him an appreciative once over and grinned when he rolled his eyes. He'd long since gotten used to Charles' sister and her brand of humor. 

_"It seems we're having trouble getting ahold of Miss Potts as well,"_ Coulson admitted.

"If they're both missing," Erik mused, his mind going over the morning's phone conversation. "I mean, Miss Potts called me this morning to ask if I'd seen Tony. Which I haven't," he continued, "not since yesterday morning when I handed him the final report on the project I've been working on."

_"Is there anywhere you can think we should check?"_ Coulson asked.

"Nowhere apart from the Avengers housing," Erik said as he poured coffee, turning when he felt movement behind him. He put the coffee pot down to accept the t-shirt Darwin held out to him with a grin. Erik rolled his eyes but took it and held the phone in place with his power while putting on the shirt.

_"The team is already on the case, trying to find him,"_ Coulson said with a not quite sigh. _"I'm sure we'll find him soon."_

Erik frowned down at his mug of coffee. "If you need my help, Coulson," he began. Because if this had both the Avengers and SHIELD worried...

_"No, at least not right now,"_ Coulson interrupted him. _"But try to keep an eye out and if anything happens or you remember anything that might have seemed strange when you last saw Mr. Stark..."_

"I've got your number, Agent," Erik said, beginning to feel a little worried about both his boss and said boss' hyper efficient PA. "Let me know when you find them, okay?" Erik said, knowing that the chance of that would be a snowball in hell.

_"If I can, I shall,"_ Coulson promised. _"I know he's your friend as well, Mr. Lehnsherr; we'll stay in touch."_

Erik put the phone down on the kitchen counter, cradling his mug of coffee. Now there was a worry he could have done without. If Tony was out living down to his reputation as a playboy and party animal, sure, Erik could see him playing hide and seek with the world, but a) Tony hadn't been doing that for ages and b) it was much unlike Miss Potts to go missing as well...

* * *

Erik looked up when the feel of Charles' mind changed from its normally tranquil state to spike of curiosity and wariness.

Swearing as he put down the shelf he'd been about to hang in their bedroom, he headed towards the front of the mansion. "What the hell is it now?" he muttered to himself.

_'Don't worry - we've just got visitors.'_

"I hope it's not SHIELD again," Erik grumbled, as he opened the front door to find a cluster of students standing outside, pointing down the gravel path.

Erik stepped around them, looking for Charles, spotting him next to two people he'd rather welcome than SHIELD. Striding forward, Erik was met halfway by Thor, who nearly crushed his wrist when he grabbed it in greeting.

"My friend, it is good to see you again," Thor said, standing aside to follow Erik back to where Charles was standing.

"Good to see you as well," Erik said good naturedly, shaking out his hand to check for broken bones. He'd met Thor often enough at his workplace that the initial awe had faded. Mostly. "And you, Miss Romanoff," he greeted the redheaded woman at Charles' side.

She gave him a nod in greeting. "We're here on official business," she said. "Have you seen Mr. Stark?"

Erik frowned. "No, but Miss Potts called this morning to ask if I'd seen him and we had a SHIELD infestation as well. I take it there's been no news?"

She shook her head. "Fury doesn't want us to go on an all-out manhunt," she said quietly. "For some reason he doesn't want the world knowing that Stark is missing."

"Hmm," Erik said, an idea forming in his mind. He raised an eyebrow at Charles and Charles frowned. "Could you search for Tony and Miss Potts with ...your abilities?" Erik asked, adding _'With Cerebro,'_ to it mentally.

Charles' eyes narrowed. _'You know I don't like outsiders knowing about it.'_ "I can try to search for him telepathically," Charles offered. "If you'll give me a little time; I need to retreat to a part of the house with less people. Somewhere where I won't be distracted by everyone else's thoughts."

Romanoff nodded. "Any help is welcome," she replied.

"We appreciate your help," Thor added to it.

"Anything you'd like to do while we wait?" Erik asked, trying to hide his grin at the ever-growing group of students at the door. "I know the kids would love to get a chance to meet you," he added.

"I'm sure Thor would like to accommodate you on that," Romanoff said innocently.

Erik grinned. "If you don't mind - we'll never hear the end of it if you leave without them getting a chance."

Thor's face softened into a smile as he headed toward the cluster of students.

"Now, tell me, are there any leads at all?" Erik pressed.

"None," Romanoff answered instantly, a touch of annoyance in her voice. "We're stabbing in the dark."

Erik raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on her choice of words. "Do you think it has to do with him being Iron Man or with him being Tony Stark?" Erik mused.

"Is there that much of a difference?" she asked dryly.

Snorting, Erik shook his head. "I'm pretty sure he's got as many enemies in the world of business as he does in the world of supervillains."

Romanoff inclined her head in agreement.

Erik shoved his hands in his pockets and cocked his head to the side. He had a hard time not laughing at the scene in front of them, even though he couldn't quite forget his worry for Tony and Miss Potts. He pulled out his mobile phone and snapped a few quick pictures.

"Tell me you are going to share those pictures with the rest of us," Romanoff said, a tone of glee underlining her even voice as she watched the same spectacle of Thor being used as a climbing frame by some of the smaller kids.

The Norse god happily hoisted little Ororo up, who in turn conjured up small, dark clouds flickering with lightning. And Erik could tell from the beaming smile on her face that she was being complimented on her gift. Figured the big guy was a softie for their little weather manipulator.

Tapping in the necessary information, Erik nodded. "They are already on your in-house server, Miss Romanoff." He could almost feel the chill hitting him from her sudden shift in mood.

"How much access do you have to our servers?" she asked quietly. The earlier mirth completely gone from her voice.

Erik, never one to be easily intimidated raised an eyebrow. He was well aware from Tony that Miss Romanoff was a lot more dangerous than she might look, but he disliked her thinking he'd willingly bring them harm. "I helped build some of your mainframe, Miss Romanoff and as for access, I sent the images via JARVIS."

For a moment she didn't move a muscle, then she relaxed visibly. "Can't be too careful," she said sunnily. "But then again, living here, I take it you're familiar with that concept."

Erik nodded. More than she would probably ever know. Charles' protectiveness of the students had long since bled over into Erik's way of thinking. "The students deserve a place they can feel safe," he said quietly.

"Your professor does a good job in that, I should think" Romanoff agreed. "They look happy."

Erik lifted his gaze and sighed. "Some of them have had a less than fantastic life so far - while we can't guess where they'll end up in the future, at least for now they're in a place where they're accepted."

"I envy them, a little," Miss Romanoff admitted, shaking her head as they watched Thor letting some of the stronger kids try to lift his hammer off the ground.

"Who doesn't?" Erik agreed.

"I could almost think Stark would lose you to this place," she said conversationally.

"Nah," Erik said. "Though dealing with the kids is a bit like trying to keep track of Tony."

She gave him a small smile and a nod. "A familiar feeling."

* * *

"No luck?" Erik asked when Charles returned to them, mouth set in a thin line and a squint that told Erik more than enough about how much of a strain he'd put on himself in that damned machine.

"Nothing," Charles said grimly. "I can't touch Miss Potts' mind either, but then again, I'm not familiar with her mind in the same way I am with Tony's."

Thor came over to join them, the bright smile falling away to a more intimidating frown. The kids behind him still hooted and laughed, obviously happy with the opportunity to meet a legend.

"I am sorry that I couldn't be of any help," Charles said quietly to their two guests. "I'll keep a feel out for anything that might help, but either they are outside my reach or they're shielded."

"How far constitutes 'outside your reach'?" Romanoff asked curiously.

"I..." Charles met Erik's eyes. "Nowhere in the state of New York," he said. _'I searched farther than that, but beyond that I can't be a hundred percent sure - I want to trust them with this knowledge, but...'_

Erik projected understanding and approval at him, watching his shoulders sink a little in relief. As much as he trusted Tony's friends, Erik didn't want the world at large to know how powerful Charles was. Someone might try to take him, and while they probably wouldn't achieve it, the safety of the students was more important.

"Impressive reach, Professor," Romanoff said with a respectful nod. "If you pick up anything you might think will be of help, let us know?"

Charles nodded.

"I take it SHIELD has been through Tony's servers by now," Erik said as their guests got ready to leave.

Romanoff nodded. "Although I'm sure there's a lot on those servers that SHIELD can't find, see or decrypt," she admitted.

Erik made a noise of agreement, his mind already going over the various subroutines that he knew were installed to hide shit on the Stark server. "I may not be as smart as Tony, but I know how he works - I'll have a look at the servers and see if there's anything that might yield any information about Tony's and Miss Potts' disappearances."

"Thank you," Romanoff said, stepping away with Thor who carefully put an arm around her waist and swung his hammer until the surge of it lifted them from the ground, skywards.

Erik couldn't help the small smile at the sounds of awe coming from the students still gathered at the entrance to the mansion.

"I wish I could have found them," Charles said quietly, leaning against Erik's side, looking tired and drawn.

Erik put his arm around his waist and supported him for a few moments before steering him towards the entrance. He shot the students mock menacing look that made the youngest of them hoot and run inside while the bigger ones shot him looks from wariness to overbearance.

"I've asked the boys to take care of the rest of today's activities," Charles said quietly. "I wish Raven were back from the city by now; she's always been better at keeping them in check."

"I'm sure between Sean and Alex they can manage," Erik said, following Charles up the stairs towards their bedroom. "They've got Hank and Darwin as well."

Charles managed a small, tired smile. "You are of course right, my friend, as always."

"Of course I am," Erik said with a laugh, trying to push away the worry for his boss. "Your staff is more than capable of handling things for a few hours."

"I know," Charles agreed. "I did hire them for that specifically. Now, why don't you see me to bed and then go dig in the servers," Charles said with a yawn. "I know you won't rest until you've turned every stone."

"You know me too well," Erik said, herding Charles inside the bedroom, moving the shelves he'd been in the process of putting up aside by the metal screws keeping them together. He left Charles by the bed, awkwardly undressing, while Erik pulled at the metal curtain rings and shut the sun out.

The room was nearly as dark as night, but Erik was used to navigating it by now and there was very little in the room that didn't have a metal signature in it somewhere. He followed the warmth of metal in Charles wristwatch, the necklace that he'd crafted himself and gifted Charles on their six months anniversary.

"Such a romantic," Charles whispered as Erik stepped up behind him and helped him undress - knowing his body so well that he didn't need light to do so.

Erik merely smiled and pressed a kiss to the bared skin of Charles' shoulder. He found that Charles' neck was lacking something that would state Erik's claim on him, so he bit lightly into the skin.

"You do know that I am in no state to follow through with anything right now, right?" Charles asked, his voice warm with mirth.

"I know," Erik said, pushing Charles under the covers of the bed. He got rid of his own jeans and t-shirt before snatching up the tablet that he always kept next to the bed. He was very well aware that if Charles had cast his net out as far as he could, then he'd have pushed himself enough to get a horrible headache. And the fact that he wasn't shielding Erik at all, constantly picking up on his thoughts only supported the fact.

"C'mere," Charles muttered, pulling at Erik and arranging him in an upright seated position in the bed, comfortably leaning back against the pillows. He slid down along Erik's side, burrowing against him and throwing an arm over his waist before falling quiet.

Erik bit his lip to keep from laughing as he pulled the covers up over Charles' shoulders. "Comfy?"

All the answer he got was a muffled feel of contentment before Charles let the stress of pushing himself drag him into a light sleep.

Erik shook his head. He'd be worried about Charles if the man would let him, of course, but Erik had been told on more than one occasion that yes, Charles _did_ know when not to push himself any further. Of course, missing friends would make him push beyond that, but Erik would just stay where he was, trust the others to deal with the students and all the while Charles could rest and Erik could start his own little manhunt.

Tapping a fifteen digit sequence into the tablet, the screen dropped away; The Stark Industries logo sinking into the back as Erik connected into the server that would allow him to not only access his own files, but a great deal of Tony's as well.

Not to mention JARVIS, because Erik was pretty sure that as much as SHIELD could dig, between the AI and Erik they could probably get into a lot of unnoticed bits and bytes of information. Saying Tony's way of thinking was eccentric and outside the box might be a gross understatement and while Erik knew his ways well, no one knew them better than JARVIS.

* * *

The whole house seemed to reverberate with the sound of the door to Erik's office being slammed shut. It definitely shook Erik out of his focus. Aided by Charles' parting, acidic shot about Erik not knowing when to quit. Not knowing when to rest. That he was going to burn himself up trying to find their friends.

Erik stared at the door, knowing full well that the annoyance and exasperation mixed with worry wasn't entirely his own. He was frustrated with the lack of progress, and while he knew Charles hoped for leads as well, he wasn't immune to the man's reasoning. He hadn't exactly helped his case by blocking Charles off mentally in an attempt to focus. And cut him off completely.

Erik spent the better part of the next half hour pacing the office, annoyed with Charles _and_ himself, until he finally calmed down, knowing that Charles was as entitled to his worrying as Erik was.

Leaning his forehead against the door to their bedroom, he sighed and pushed down every wall he had up surrounding his mind. Charles never went walkabout in his mind, but Erik had learned early on that doing this was a peace offering that was not to be trifled with.

"You're getting far too good at this," Charles muttered from the other side of the door.

Erik put the palm of his hand against the rough wood of the door. "Would it help if I said that I'm sorry?" he asked. And he genuinely was. It wasn't as if he didn't worry when Charles overtaxed himself with the training of students or the use of Cerebro.

It wasn't as if they never had this conversation reversed. It was how and what they were, _who_ they were.

The lock on the door clicked and Erik drew a deep breath before walking in, finding Charles standing at the foot of their bed. "For what it's worth," Erik said, "you know I'm sorry and you know I power through when something's important."

"I know," Charles said quietly, reaching for Erik, who gladly went. "I'm worried about Tony and Miss Potts as well, they're my friends too, you know."

"I know," Erik said. "But if there's anything I can do to find them..."

"Erik, allow yourself at least some rest," Charles said, tone mildly scolding. "The Avengers and SHIELD are on the case as well, looking for our friends. The world doesn't stand or fall with you taking part 24/7."

Erik rolled his eyes. "I know, I'm not stupid."

"No?" Charles said teasingly. "Could've fooled me."

Erik growled and tackled him to the bed, tickling him mercilessly until he was gasping for air, trying to tell Erik that he was yielding.

"Enough, you maniac!" Charles finally managed to gasp between gulps of air.

Grinning, Erik let the tickling turn to caresses and Charles' breathing changed for a whole other reason.

* * *

Now, if Erik had been smart enough to understand life, or sufficiently awake on Monday morning, he would have possibly seen it coming. Or rather, understood that the way the universe worked, he'd probably have his day ruined well before his third cup of coffee.

Really, some people were simply barbarians.

He'd kissed Charles goodbye that morning, getting into his car to make the drive into the city, to get to work on some of the projects he knew had deadlines that Tony would want to keep even though he wasn't there to take care of them himself.

It meant Erik would be stuck in meetings all morning with department heads, trying to do what Tony and Miss Potts did every day - and it meant one of those days where he wished his mutant power were organisation and not magnetism.

Of course, having been hoping for something to happen that might give him an idea of Tony's whereabouts, he wasn't quite ready for the black van that pulled up beside him at a deserted crossing where he'd stopped for a red light. Nor was he ready for being pulled out of his own car and inside the van, having a bag thrown over his head.

Erik reached out and touched the metal of the van with his powers. No way was he going to let...

"Don't make a move, Mr. Lehnsherr," he was told in a raspy voice. "If you want to live and you want your boss back alive, I suggest you follow along nice and easily."

Erik allowed himself a small, mean smile, well hidden by the bag. Now things were looking up, because if Tony and Miss Potts had been taken and he couldn't follow the trail back to the bastards, he might as well let them take him there.

"Just... please, don't hurt me," Erik said, glad he had the bag over his head to help with his bad acting. He wasn't sure he could've kept a straight face. At any point he could take the metal of the van and wrap it around these idiots.

The laughter his timid agreement elicited made him grin even meaner. Well, as long as they took him to Tony and hopefully Miss Potts as well, he would play along.

He thought for a moment of contacting Charles, but he couldn't quite feel his presence. The distance and the fact that he knew Charles was working with some of the students on shielding probably answered to that.

As it were, he had to hope that Charles wouldn't have his head for this, that he would forgive him for getting into danger. Perhaps it was better to ask for forgiveness than telling him right away.

So, all in all it was playing right into Erik's hands, going according to plan.

Up until the _wooden_ baseball bat impacted with the back of his head.

This might have been the point where Erik's plan began leaking like a boat full of holes on a stormy sea.


	2. Chapter 2

Groaning, Erik wondered why his head was throbbing and he felt like vomitting, why his body ached and why... why he was curled up on the cold floor, his arms wrapped around his body in abject misery.

One, the cold floor was a bit odd, and two...

A cool hand touched Erik's forehead and he jerked back, instantly regretting it when his stomach rolled and threatened to spill whatever he'd had for breakfast.

Well, a threat with which it followed through. The world swam around Erik as he was held in place, on his knees as he coughed and spat out whatever his stomach insisted it no longer wanted. And of course the retching only made his headache worse. If that was even possible.

"Easy," a familiar voice said quietly.

Erik coughed a few times then managed to find his voice. "Tony?"

"Yeah," Tony replied. There was some shuffling and Tony pulled Erik away from the contents of his stomach to sit up against a wall.

The world slowly swam back into place and Erik dared turn his head.

"I think you might have a concussion," Tony said.

"You always were the genius," Erik grumbled, feeling the throbbing in his head lessen a little as he sat still. He took in the state of his boss next to him. Grimy clothes and pale complexion, but otherwise looking like himself.

"Well, between that and my broken leg," Tony began.

Erik took a deep breath and regretted it instantly as the smell of bile and sweat hit his nostrils. "You okay?" he managed to get out.

"Apart from the broken leg? Yeah," Tony admitted. "I'm more worried about... about where they've taken Pepper."

"Shit," Erik muttered to himself, trying to get his head in order, trying to focus through the fog that seemed to be covering every thought. "Any escape plans yet?" Erik asked, then amended. "How many _viable_ escape plans have you come up with so far?"

Tony shot him a mock-hurt look. "One or two, but I don't know how viable they are. I'd have liked to know where they're holding Pepper."

Erik swore under his breath. "So that's why no one's been able to get in touch with her." Carefully rubbing the back of his head, feeling the stickiness of drying blood, he winced. "I should have pushed for more from her when she called me Saturday morning asking if I'd seen you."

Tony sighed deeply. "I needed a bit of space and they hit me when I stopped at a small gas station for a snack. Sleeping gas of some sort, almost no scent to it, but kicked like a pony."

"Do you know what they want?" Erik asked, looking around the room, not finding much that might aid them. A pile of wooden planks in varying sizes was about all he could make out. If only his head hadn't been pounding like a blacksmith's anvil so he could trust his powers. If he tried anything right now he'd probably pass out or worse, hurt Tony or himself.

"They want me to rebuild the machine that made Captain America," Tony said with a snort.

Erik gave him a surprised look. Howard Stark had after all been part of the project and Tony was buddies with the living legend it had spawned.

Tony rubbed the back of his head. "My father was part of the project, and the machine was merely the catalyst of the change - the formula that originally changed Cap has been lost since," Tony explained. "Which I told my jailors. Though of course they didn't believe me."

Erik looked around the half-dark and dreary room. There was a pile of wood planks in the corner and some paint cans that looked to be decades old. As well as bits and pieces of metal. Not exactly the most inspirational place. "And the leg?"

"Thought it was a viable escape plan, it wasn't," Tony said lightly.

Turning his head to meet Tony's eyes, Erik realized that his boss was in a world of pain. "We should splint it," Erik said quietly.

Tony sighed deeply. "Yeah, but we haven't got anything to do that with and our captors haven't been here since they dumped you a couple of hours ago."

Erik groaned. "Charles is going to have my ass for this," he muttered.

"Probably," Tony agreed lightly. "Does that weirdass connection you have with Charles..."

Before he could finish that sentence, the lock at the door disengaged and Erik could feel the tumblers move as if through cotton.

A lanky looking guy with unkempt slightly too long hair and a suit that looked like it had been slept in stepped inside the door. Two goons followed him, looking about as mean as a goon out of a ridiculous 80s action B-movie.

"Mr. Stark," the man said, sounding far too chipper. "I do believe it is time to talk business."

Tony shot him an equally chipper look and Erik had to fight not to laugh. "And what sort of business were you thinking of you and me doing?" he asked, sounding as if he were attending any boring old board meeting.

"Our employer doesn't believe you when you say you don't know how to rebuild the machine of the Super Soldier project. He thinks you'd say that while in secret you're building your own little army of beyond average soldiers," the guy said, looking less chipper and more annoyed now. "I can tell you this much, if you don't agree to recreate the machine for us, we will make sure that both your lovely assistant and your employee here are made to suffer for you inability to cooperate."

Erik shared a quick wordless look with Tony, raising an eyebrow. They needed time above all else, time to plot, plan, find Miss Potts and escape.

Tony dipped his head slowly in agreement. "Don't hurt Miss Potts or Mr. Lehnsherr," he asked quietly.

Keeping a look of surprise off his face, Erik wondered if Tony might actually be capable of recreating the machine, making it work, or if... A moment of vertigo made Erik take a deep breath. His head was pounding. Or maybe just buying time?

"I'll need materials, and computer access," Tony said meekly.

And that was the point where Erik voted for the buying time part. Tony Stark was many things, meek most definitely not one of them.

"We'll also need something to splint Mr. Stark's leg," Erik croaked out. "Moving about with a broken leg without support will only slow us down," he added when the guy opened his mouth to argue.

Apparently the logic of it made it through because the man turned around and gestured to the two goons.

"We're not stupid, Mr. Stark. You're getting paper for blueprints. We don't trust you with computers or materials beyond pens and rulers. I'd like to remove any hope you might have for help from outside as well," he then said, as he left the room. "We are well aware that you, Mr. Stark, have a lot of very talented friends. We do not know all their powers, but this place has been built to the nines, with defenses against both weapons as well as high-tech search equipment - the whole place is covered by white noise generators and these rooms are coated in a metallic coating that makes it very hard for signals of any kind getting through.

Erik blanched. Maybe the reason he couldn't feel Charles wasn't so much distance, which he didn't know how great was, or his concussion - but rather something in the facility that was blocking him? Mouth set in a grim line, Erik drew a deep breath, trying to get his mind to cooperate. He and Tony would just have to free themselves and find another way of getting back home.

Charles would be worried sick and quite possibly with the precautions these people had taken to stay hidden, SHIELD and the Avengers were looking in all the wrong places for them.

* * *

Erik blamed the addled stated of his brain for not reminding the goons that they needed materials for a splint. As it was, he noticed too late and Tony's pale complexion told him he probably should have demanded painkillers as well. So Erik scavenged two uneven in length pieces of wood from the pile in the corner to use.

"You okay, boss?" Erik asked quietly as he knelt next to Tony on the floor, trying to convince his mind to work and his stomach to stay right where it was.

"Yeah, as long as I don't _move_ ," Tony said with a small laugh, "and I could ask you much the same thing."

"And get the same answer," Erik said, before clenching his teeth as another wave of nausea hit him. Staring at the splints, he finally realized that the only souce of material for bandages would have to come off himself. Undoing the buttons of his shirt, he tried to calculate if it'd be enough, then added his undershirt to the mix as well.

"Really, Erik, is now the time?" Tony asked jokingly, beads of sweat on his forehead as he tried not to move too much. "And what would Charles say?"

Erik gave him a tired smile. "It's the best I can do with what little we have," he admitted. He wondered if perhaps the rolls of electrical wires the goons had dragged into their prison could be added as well. He reached out towards it with his power, realizing his error as another wave of pain and nausea hit him hard.

Tony's hand on his shoulder steadied him somewhat. "Erik...?"

"Nggg," Erik got out, then swallowed the bile that made him gag. "Safe to say I shouldn't be trying to use my power in the foreseeable future," he admitted quietly. "Seems a concussion and tapping into the electromagnetic fields is a very bad combination."

"It'll be alright," Tony told him. "We're not without resources even if your magnetic personality would have come in handy."

"Yeah, no strangling everyone with electrical wire now," Erik said jokingly, feeling a little bereft. It wasn't that he couldn't feel his power, or feel the magnetic field of the Earth itself. Not feeling it had not been an option since his early teenage years. But he felt as if he were in one room and his power in another and no door was connecting the two.

"Could you... would you..." Tony shot him a humorless smile. "On second thought, I've seen you rip people apart verbally in the past, I wouldn't put it past you to actually being able to maim someone."

"I sometimes feel like maiming you, does that count?" Erik asked acidly, his head pounding, making it hard to think. 

"Temper, temper, mon capitan," Tony muttered, looking about as bad as Erik felt.

"Oh shut up," Erik replied, feeling a little better, knowing that taking it out on Tony was unreasonable. Even if he'd been abducted first. "And don't quote Star Trek at me, you ass."

"I'm more surprised you caught that one," Tony grinned, closing his eyes as Erik lay down the splints and began tearing his shirts into strips. When Erik put his hands on Tony's leg, he barely flinched, but his already pale complexion became possibly ghostlike. 

"Charles makes me watch it," Erik admitted. He would keep Tony talking while he splinted the leg.

Erik took a steadying breath while he readied the splint, knowing he'd have bruises on his arm where Tony was gripping him. "Pass out already, you idiot," Erik muttered. "Get some rest."

"We don't have time for that," Tony gasped through the pain.

Erik wanted to argue but he knew Tony was right. If they were to get out and find Miss Potts as well, they had to move fast. "How much are they keeping an eye on us, you think?" he asked quietly.

"Probably not all that much - they're not being paid by the sharpest tool in the shed," Tony replied, voice low as he leaned forward and rested his forehead on Erik's shoulder, gasping for breath.

Letting him, Erik just squeezed his arm lightly. "You know who's behind it?"

"I'm pretty sure that it's Justin Hammer," Tony said, using the moment of leaning on Erik to lower his voice to a whisper.

"Seriously?" Erik had met Hammer on more than one occasion. The guy was an opportunistic ass, but stupid enough to kidnap the competition?

"He's desperate enough to try, I think," Tony muttered.

"Scary thing is, you might be right," Erik agreed reluctantly. "I guess even he can manage to pull off something every once in a while." Hammer seemed a recurring nuisance and Erik had noticed that pretty early on when he'd started working for Stark Industries.

Tony chuckled, breathing shallowly through the pain. "Of course, his schemes mostly blow up in his own face, don't they?"

Erik grinned. "Let's make sure it does this time too and that we're far enough away from here to really appreciate it when it happens."

"So we manufacture our escape and return the conquering heroes?" Tony asked, taking a deep breath and relaxing back a little, pain obviously more under control.

"I'll settle for getting out of here before either your friends or Charles tear the world apart looking for us," Erik said dryly.

"Oh yeah, that might be a good idea," Tony agreed, a small laugh escaping him.

Getting to his feet, making sure he was steady before helping Tony up to the table that had been put in the middle of the room. True to their captors' words, they had only been given rolls of blank blueprint paper and pens and rulers. Not even a calculator had been supplied.

"I think they expect miracles from us," Erik said drily.

"Well, we're attempting to build them the impossible," Tony agreed, "so what do you say, my friend? Let's make some magic."

Erik shook his head lightly, wincing. "If you get started on your ...blueprints, I'll make an inventory on what's in this room," he offered. "There's metal among the piles of wood in the corner and there's paint as well. Might be something else we can put to good use."

Tony saluted him and got to work on making his fake blueprints so their idiot abductors would at least think that they were doing as they'd been told.

* * *

Half an hour later, Tony had several blueprints that looked legit, and Erik might have bought it if he hadn't known already they were fake remakes of the machine that had once created Captain America.

Steve. His boss' friend.

That one never got old.

"Impressive," Erik said as he sat down next to him, mindful of the broken leg that was resting on another chair.

"Why, thank you," Tony said with a wry grin. "What have you got?"

"Well, between what has been stored in here and my youthful indiscretions," Erik said with a small grin, "I think we can make something."

"That goes boom?" Tony asked with a shine to his eyes.

Erik snorted. "You're not really five years old, right?"

"Come on, Erik, you know me too well to ask questions like that." Tony shook his head and winked at him. "And I know for a fact that you enjoy shit that goes boom as much as I do."

Erik couldn't really argue with that. "With what we've got it won't make much damage, though."

"But be flashy and distracting? And maybe heavy duty enough to get us out?" Tony asked, mind obviously working overtime.

Erik grinned and nicked Tony's pencil to write down what he had found might help them. It wasn't much. Some old wiring, some old paint and paint thinner that was probably decades old.

Tony's face lit up and he stole the pencil back and drew arrows between some of the things, diagrams and formulae. "And if you add copper-wire from the old wiring," he asked quietly, "even in the state you're in, could you set it off through that?"

Erik frowned. "Damn it, why didn't I see that? And yeah, just don't ask me to do anything detailed or heavy with my power, I'll be fine." He hoped.

"You got hit on the head," Tony consoled him. "You normally think faster on your feet."

Erik grunted and went back to have another look, returning every now and again to re-arrange and occasionally add a few more items to the list, every item seemingly making Tony smile a little wider.

* * *

In the end they had... a surprisingly adequate arsenal of small explosives. Erik could only hope an electromagnetic pulse from him would be enough to set them off, because he wasn't keen on testing it. Possibly he'd set all of it off beforehand if he did try. Besides, his own calculations as well as Tony's clearly showed that it would work.

Five small pouches made from some old burlap sacks that Erik had scrounged up, now packed with a chemical mixture that Erik wouldn't have normally tried to put together sat on the table. Then again, apparently mixing the way he and Tony thought, could come up with some pretty nasty shit. He barely dared feel out the little fuses they'd made, but he figured he could probably set them off even if it would leave him with the headache from hell.

The devices were round enough to roll into the hallway and Erik was glad to see the smile on Tony's face when he'd managed that, half kneeling, half lying down in front of the door, not trusting Erik's swimming head to do this. Which was probably just as well. Erik wasn't sure if he could get back up if he'd attempted it.

"You look like shit," Tony told him oh so helpfully when he'd finished positioning the small explosives. "Are you sure you can set them off like this?"

"Just tell me I can fire them all at the same time, and I'll be fine," Erik replied grumpily.

"You can set them off at the same time," Tony agreed. "It's a diversion, and hopefully all we'll need. Though as it won't knock them out..."

Erik rose unsteadily on his feet and pulled a piece of wood out of the pile that would do nicely. "Let's hope there's only one, because I'm not really up to my usual standards of brawling," Erik said drily.

"Does Charles know about those standards?" Tony asked with a small laugh.

"He does - he finds it refreshing," Erik said with a snort.

They sat quietly for a moment, then Tony leaned his head back. "Let's get into place and give them half an hour before we start making noises to attract their attention."

"Deal," Erik said, slowly making his way over to the side where he couldn't be seen from the door. "This is never going to work," he muttered.

"Don't be such a pessimist," Tony said sunnily, though every movement obviously spoke volumes of the pain he was still in.

They had barely gotten into place before they could hear footsteps in the hallway outside and they shared a quick look of surprise.

"Step back from the door," they were told.

"We're not at the door," Tony yelled back. He looked over and gave Erik a shrug.

"Just don't try anything," the goon replied.

Erik made a face. Hammer should have enough money to hire some of the better help, why the heck was he making do with such... well, less than impressive show of force? Taking a deep breath, he waited for Tony's sign and readied himself to make a bid for their freedom.

The goon stepped inside, Tony nodded and Erik sent out a pulse to activate their small bombs. It nearly took him down doing so. Not the small explosions following, but using his powers at all. He wasn't even sure how he managed to slam the wooden assault weapon down over the neck of the guy, but he went to his knees and Erik kicked him hard in the stomach, only just managing without falling on his own ass in the process.

The guy went down and Erik didn't waste any time, offering his shoulder for Tony to hang onto as they staggered their way out into the hallway, smoke still thick enough to make their eyes water. "Where to?" Erik asked.

"Any direction is as good as the other," Tony said with a shrug. "Left?"

"Left it is," Erik agreed and they made their way down the hallway as fast as they could, which wasn't nearly as fast as either of them would have liked. They went down hallway after hallway without meeting anyone and Erik realized that what had initially looked like a jail from the inside actually might be one. A smaller facility, obviously abandoned for years. Wires were hanging forlornly from the walls and the floor was dirty - and more than a few places spoke of having had animal vagrants at some point.

They rounded a corner and came to a sudden stop, and Erik was about to drop Tony to face whatever enemy they might be up against with his bare fists. Right until his battered brain caught up with him.

"Pepper!" Tony nearly fell when he tried to move forward and forgot about his little problem.

"Miss Potts, you are a sight for sore eyes," Erik said with a tired smile, only now noticing the bat she was brandishing.

"How did you get out?" Tony asked incredulously. "We were on our way to save _you_."

Erik didn't even try to hide his grin.

"These heels are not merely for show, Mr. Stark," Miss Pepper said sternly, though there was a glimmer of humor in her eyes. She gave Tony a worried once-over and though her eyes widened a little when she noticed Erik's state of undress, she refrained from commenting.

"Remind me to stay on your good side, Miss Potts," Erik said with a smile, hefting up Tony, who was leaning heavily on him again.

"You have manners, Mr. Lehnsherr, I believe you are quite safe," she said with a wink, hefting the baseball bat. He wondered idly if that had been the one that had been introduced to the back of his head when the bastards had kidnapped him.

Far off in the distance something exploded; loudly and all three stared at each other and Erik and Pepper turned their heads to look at Tony.

"Not one of mine!" he said vehemently. "Maybe Hammer made a blunder and is about to blow up his own shit?"

"We can only hope," Erik muttered.

"I think perhaps we should leave?" Miss Potts suggested, when another explosion, this time much closer, rocked the building and plaster and bits and pieces of mortar rained down over them.

"Excellent idea," Tony agreed feverishly. "Any idea how we're getting out?"

Another shared look and they turned in the opposite direction of the explosions, figuring better safe than sorry.

Erik stumbled for a moment when his head swam. It wasn't so much unexpected as it was simply different from when it had happened to him so far. He had a moment to wonder if perhaps his concussion was getting worse when it happened again and he nearly dropped Tony.

Suddenly there was a great big rumbling noise and the wall ahead of them seemed to bulge inward before cracking and crumbling.

The air was filled with dust and bits of plaster and Erik blinked rapidly to clear his eyesight, hoping his brain wouldn't bleed to pieces when he tapped into whatever reserves he might still have to keep them alive.

"Knock, knock!"

Tony let out an explosive breath and laughed. "You're supposed to say that _before_ you blow open a new doorway, Barton!" he yelled.

It took a moment for Erik to process what it meant, then he nearly sagged as the dust cleared and the sun glinted off the pointed tip of an arrow. "Everything okay, Stark?" Barton called back.

Bits of wall and ceiling kept falling, rubble bounced off a shield and to Erik's relief, Tony's weight was taken off his shoulder. It only got better when they were treated to Tony being carried out, bridal style, by Captain America. The sniggers from Barton nearly set Erik off and he didn't really dare look at Miss Potts, fearing neither of them could keep a straight face.

Relief would do that to you, Erik was sure that was all. It was his theory and he was sticking with it. Especially if Tony asked.

He offered Miss Potts his arm and they managed to get over the rubble and outside into the courtyard of the facility they were in. It really did seem that they were in an old prison, especially judging from the fences lining the inside yard. Barton put his bow and arrow away and stepped up to take Miss Pott's other arm, leading them away from the debris of the broken wall.

The ground shook as a row of lightning bolts hit the building, crumbling whatever wasn't already in ruins around the large, green body of the Hulk. The air was thick with electricity and dust made it hard to see anything.

"Having fun, I see," Tony said drily, not looking the least fazed by his new situation, still held tightly in Steve's arms.

"They need to blow off some of the steam from worrying about you, Tony," Steve said with a small grin. "Speaking of," he continued, turning towards the only part of the building still standing.

Erik winced as another wave of pain and nausea washed over him, though it felt warped and not quite right.

"Look what I found," Natasha said, walking through the dust, dragging a crying and screaming Hammer behind her by the foot. The man was a mess, his normally impeccable suit in tatters as he clawed desperately at the ground to get away from his tormentor.

She dropped him in front of them and kicked him in the leg. "Stop whining, Hammer. You'd think I'd hurt you. Trust me, I could put you through much worse pain."

Hammer's screams turned to whimpers as he curled in on himself on the dusty ground.

Erik stared at him. He guessed that being dragged out by the Black Widow so very violently would reduce most grown men to tears. Then again. Hammer wasn't exactly...

A wave of annoyance and anger hit Erik and he only remained standing because Miss Potts grabbed him and Barton was lightning quick in getting his other arm.

"Where are all the goons?" Tony asked.

"You okay?" Barton asked Erik, who swallowed hard as his head pounded like a bad 80s rock concert.

"They have been convinced to not intervene," Steve said sunnily.

"Yeah, I like your boyfriend's style, by the way," Barton said with a laugh, steadying Erik again.

For a few heartbeats Erik didn't understand what the hell the man was on about, then the dust settled and he found the middle of the courtyard holding a good twenty odd men - all on their knees, all with blank looks on their faces and in the middle of them, one very pissed off Charles Xavier.

If Erik's head hadn't been pounding like it was, he'd have enjoyed Charles dressed up in what looked like a black SHIELD uniform. A very tight black uniform. Figure hugging.

Charles looked up and met his eyes, the look of anger giving way to one of worry and relief as Charles hurried towards them. It said a lot about Charles' power that he kept the hold over the men as he almost ran to Erik, nearly bowling him over to hold him close.

"You're okay," Charles muttered against his shoulder. "You're okay," he repeated. Then he stopped, leaned back and touched Erik's temple. "Oh bugger, I'm _so_ sorry," he said, looking almost heartbroken.

The headache Erik had been fighting for the past half hour suddenly lifted. Not completely gone, but it no longer felt ...off.

"That was mine," Charles said apologetically. "I've been staying open for the past five hours trying to find you. I didn't think that the headache I'd have from it would have been shared with you."

Erik sighed and pulled him in close, not so tired or dizzy he couldn't cop a feel where the tight uniform molded to Charles' backside.

"Erik! Is now really the time?" Charles asked, face flushed though he made no move to fend Erik off. And judging from the waves of relief coming off Charles he wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

Grinning, Erik leaned in, mindful of his own aching head, to silence Charles the only way that had ever proved efficient. He managed to ignore the catcalls from both Tony and Barton for long enough to satisfy the initial need to reconnect.

And a little extra.

And maybe a little more.

The fact that Charles kept running his hands over Erik's naked chest - more in appreciation than was strictly called for in order to look for wounds, dragged it all on a bit.

"Guys, can we go now?" Tony whined plaintively.

Charles let Erik back up for air eventually, though Erik still leaned against him, a little unsteady on his feet. "I think we should go home," Erik agreed. He shot the still whimpering Hammer a mean look. "And get this asshole taken care of. And his goons."

Charles rubbed his temple and nodded.

"We'll drop him off with SHIELD," Steve said sternly, a comment that didn't make Hammer whimper any less. "And Thor and Hulk will drop the goons off at the nearest police station with the request to call Fury."

"Hear that you worthless piece of crap?" Barton asked, grabbing the back of Hammer's jacket and hoisting him onto his feet. "You're going to regret making off with important people."

"Aw, Agent Barton," Tony said with a snigger, "I didn't know you cared."

"Don't let it get to your head, Stark," Barton replied drily. "We were worried about Miss Potts. I'd add Mr. Lehnsherr in there as well, if not for the fact I feel kinda sorry for anyone who'd piss off the little professor by dragging off Mr. Tall-dark-and-brooding."

Erik frowned.

"That's you, my dear," Charles added, the smirk evident in both his voice and the touch of his mind against Erik's. He patted Erik's naked chest appreciatively again.

"Yeah, no thanks," Erik said with annoyance. "We were well on our way to escaping as it were." He leaned down and pecked Charles on the nose. "Though the rescue is much appreciated, and the lift home even more so."

"Always happy to help," Charles replied sunnily, squeezing Erik's backside in retaliation.

"I believe, Mr. Lehnsherr," Miss Potts said evenly, "in this case it is best to simply be the greater person and accept the help."

"We've got the proof we need," Natasha said as she waved a usb flash drive at them. "The rest is probably best buried and melted - which incidentally, is what Thor is about to do - so I suggest we all get out of the way."

"Is that really necessary?" Tony asked curiously, wincing when any answer was drowned out by Hulk taking down the last building still standing in one powerful bounce.

"Some of the things Mr. Hammer was working on were downright degrading to anyone it might be tested on or used against," Charles said, voice as cold as ice. "Trust me Tony, it's better this way. I don't know how he got to it, but some of it were old experimental inventions from various Nazi archives."

"The world will be a much better place without them, then," Steve agreed. "Nothing good will come from that source."

"Will burying this whole place not raise more questions?" Miss Potts asked as she straightened her shirt.

It never failed to surprise Erik just how in control she could seem in most cases. It was an ability he much envied her. Perhaps it could be learned from years of exposure to Tony?

Natasha shrugged. "We'll tell Fury that Thor got a little carried away."

"I am occasionally a mite overenthusiastic," Thor added to the mix as he walked up behind them, making Erik jump. "I shall tell Mr. Fury that I am so very sorry."

How such a loud, big man could move so quietly was very unsettling sometimes. Erik grinned. Somehow the earnest face Thor had could hide a mountain of mischief. Which, of course, Fury would see right through but probably blatantly ignore if what half the stuff Tony told him was true.

"I do believe it is time we get Mr. Stark and Mr. Lehnsherr to the hospital," Miss Potts said sternly.

"You as well, Pepper," Tony said.

"I'm not the one who has a concussion or a broken leg, Mr. Stark," she said. "But I wouldn't say no to a shower and some clean clothes."

"Let's go, then," Barton said, waving them ahead, through the rubble which was all that was left of the buildings they had been held in. Outside on the broken asphalt of the old parking lot, stood the quinjet, sleek and welcoming, its interior nice and cool and quiet.

"Are you sure we should be leaving Bruce behind?" Miss Potts asked as she fastened her seatbelt.

"I think the Hulk is enjoying the freedom of being out and about and not having to hold back," Steve said as he settled Tony into the seat next to her and did up his seatbelt. "He'll get back on his own. Thor will catch up with us when he's done and the hired guns are dropped off with the authorities."

Erik let Charles secure him in his seat, sighing deeply when he could lean into the other man as he sat down as well. "A shower would be great," he said with a yawn. "Shower, food, bed. You. Not necessarily in that order."

Charles shook his head with a laugh. "Hospital first for you and Tony," he warned. "I'm sure I can count on Pepper to help me herd you in there as well. And Steve will help too," he added sunnily.

"Oh yes," Miss Potts added. "Don't worry about it, Charles. Between you, Steve and myself, I'm sure we can get those two into the hospital. And if not, we can always ask Miss Romanoff to help."

"Hospital sounds fine," Tony said quickly.

"Pushover," Barton said with a snigger as he passed by them on his way to the co-pilot's seat from where he'd secured Hammer and duct taped his mouth shut.

"That's... very mature, Tony," Erik commented when Tony stuck his tongue out at Barton's retreating back.

"Oh shut up, Lehnsherr," Tony said good naturedly. "Remember who signs your paychecks?"

"Miss Potts does," Erik said with a small grin. He was used to Tony's posturing.

"And happily so," Miss Potts added at which point Tony wisely shut up.

For a few minutes anyway.

* * *

\--

Epilogue:

Erik slipped in behind Charles who was standing in front of the window, watching some of the students playing an odd game of chase on the lawn. Putting his arms around his waist, he leaned in and nuzzled the back of Charles' head.

"I've gotten the all go, all green light, clean bill of health from the doctor," Erik mumbled against the warm skin.

Charles leaned back into his embrace and hummed contentedly. "Sounds good," he agreed.

"Any suggestions how we might celebrate this?" Erik asked playfully. It wasn't as if they had been celibate since they had returned from their little adventure, but Erik had been busy catching up on projects at work, current as well as new ones, and he'd been pretty worn out when he'd gotten home. Not to mention the concussion had taken its toll on him in the beginning as well.

"Well, I _did_ neglect returning the SHIELD uniform, you know," Charles replied, a small grin curving his lips into an enticing invitation.

"Is that so?" Erik asked, licking his lips, pretending to give it some thought. "How is your schedule looking this afternoon, Professor?" he asked, keeping his voice as business-like as possible.

"Well, Sean and Darwin are looking after the students outside and coincidentally, my afternoon schedule seems to be rather echoingly empty," Charles replied, leaning into Erik's personal space. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions as how to... fill it, Mr. Lehnsherr?"

Erik swallowed back a laugh. "That was a pretty bad double entendre, Charles," he said sternly.

"Oh..." Charles gave him a sad face and stepped around Erik's side. "I guess that's a no, then."

Catching his arm, both physically and by the touch of Charles' watch, Erik pulled him in close, taking a deep breath and enjoying the familiar scent. "Not so fast, Professor Xavier. I believe perhaps we should work through scenarios involving SHIELD interference and if you happen to have the uniform, I believe that may just add sufficient authenticity."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to work on your manners when it comes to government agents," Charles replied, pursing his lips. "Give me ten minutes to get changed and to get into the role, then come find me in the bedroom. I think we need to roleplay a few of those... scenarios."

Erik bit his lower lip, not even needing the mental images that Charles was sending him to get all hot and bothered. "Ten minutes," he agreed readily, finally letting go of Charles.

Charles' laughter rang out through the hallway as he hurried from the room, very obviously looking forward to their little game as much as Erik was.

The End

 

Note: The girl Erik's talked to during a sleepless night was Mercury (Cessily Kincaid)


End file.
